听播客学英语 26 威廉和凯特订婚了！

 　　Last week, the newspapers and television told us about an engagement¹. An “engagement” is when two people decide to get married. We say that the couple are “engaged to be married”, or simply that they are “engaged”. The engagement which was announced last week was between a helicopter pilot and a buyer for a well-known chain of clothing shops. So why was it on the front pages of the newspapers? You probably know the answer already. The helicopter pilot is Prince William, the grandson of our Queen; and the buyer from the clothes shop is Kate Middleton, who has been his girlfriend for several years.

　　Prince William is second in line to the throne. What does that mean? Well, when our present Queen dies, Prince Charles – William’s father – will become king. And when Charles dies, William will become king. He probably has a long time to wait, however, and in the meantime he is making himself useful by flying helicopters for the Royal Air Force.

　　A hundred years ago, a Prince who was likely to become king was expected to find a wife from one of the other European royal families. Thankfully, however, things have changed. Kate Middleton is not a Princess, nor even the daughter of an old aristocratic family. Her parents used to work for British Airways² – her mother was an air hostess. Later, they built a successful business which sells things for children’s parties. The press have described Kate as “middle class” and “an ordinary girl”, but this isn’t really true. She grew up in an expensive house in a nice area, and her parents paid for her to attend an exclusive³ private school.

　　Kate and the Prince met when they were at University, in St Andrews in Scotland. They were obviously following the great British tradition of going to a University as far from their parents as possible. At the end of their first year at St Andrews, Will wanted to leave University, but Kate persuaded him to stay. And Kate has been the Prince’s girlfriend ever since, except for a period a few years ago when they decided⁴ that they were “just good friends”. It sounds just like a million other boy/girl relationships all over the world.

　　How do British people feel about the forthcoming⁵ royal wedding? Some people say that they don’t care. They say that they have more important things to worry about. Others say that they don’t like our royal family, and that Britain should become a republic. Yet other people are a bit sceptical. They say that the members of the royal family lead very artificial lives. They are constantly in the public eye, and journalists and photographers give them little peace or privacy⁶. Too many royal marriages nowadays end in divorce. How will Kate cope? Will she find it too stressful?

　　However, I think that most people regard our royal family as a sort of national soap opera. Like any good soap opera, the royal family has weddings, and babies, and divorces, and sometimes even funerals. We want our royal family to entertain us, just as television soap operas do. For years, we have read gossip⁷ in the newspapers about Will and Kate. We have never actually met either of them, of course, but we feel that we know them. And we are thrilled that they are now getting married. It is the happiest news we have had for a long time.

　　The wedding will take place on 29 April next year. For the next 5 months, we will read everything that newspaper reporters can discover or invent about Will and Kate. We will discuss what style of wedding dress Kate will wear, who the bridesmaids will be, and where the happy couple will go for their honeymoon⁸. We will buy “Kate and Will” souvenir mugs. Some of us will hang flags out of our bedroom windows. The wedding day will be a public holiday, so we can all sit at home and watch the wedding on television, or get in our cars and sit in traffic jams on the motorways⁹. The people who are not interested in the royal family will secretly turn on their televisions to watch for a few minutes. For a short time we will forget the economic crisis¹⁰, and our own personal problems. We will be a nation united in front of our television screens. It will be good entertainment, which is what our royal family does best.

1 engagement   

n.订婚，婚约，约定，约会

参考例句：

• I can't see you on Monday because I have a previous engagement.星期一我不能见你，因为我有约在先。
• It was my mother's very own engagement ring.这正是我母亲自己的订婚戒指。

2 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

3 exclusive   

adj.不包括的，不算在内的，独有的，独享的

参考例句：

• The hotel charges 6 pounds a day,exclusive of meals.这家旅馆一天收六英镑，不包括饭钱。
• This bathroom is for the President's exclusive use.这间浴室是总统专用的。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 forthcoming   

adj.即将到来的，可得到的，乐于提供消息的

参考例句：

• He gave me a list of their forthcoming books.他给了我一张他们即将出版图书的目录。
• Her letter may purport her forthcoming arrival.她的来信可能意味着她快要到了。

6 privacy   

n.私人权利，个人自由，隐私权

参考例句：

• In such matters,privacy is impossible.在这类事情中，保密是不可能的。
• She wept in the privacy of her own room.她在自己房内暗暗落泪。

7 gossip   

n.流言蜚语，爱说长道短的人；vi.传播流言

参考例句：

• She broadcast the gossip all over the town.她将这个流言传遍全镇。
• They spread a lot of tacky gossip about his love life.关于他的爱情生活，他们散播了许多不堪的闲言闲语。

8 honeymoon   

n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月

参考例句：

• While on honeymoon in Bali,she learned to scuba dive.她在巴厘岛度蜜月时学会了带水肺潜水。
• The happy pair are leaving for their honeymoon.这幸福的一对就要去度蜜月了。

9 motorways   

n.高速公路( motorway的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Most of Britain's motorways radiated from London. 英国的大多数公路从伦敦向四方延伸。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Cuba is well served by motorways. 古巴的高速公路四通八达。 来自辞典例句

10 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。